I rise today on behalf of Liberal caucus to also pay tribute to and mark the 44^th annual Earth Day 2014. Originally launched on April 22, 1970 in the United States as an environmental awareness event, it is considered to be the birth of the modern environmental movement. Today, more than six million Canadians join together with more than one billion people in 170 countries to stage events and to provide awareness of local environmental issues.

Earth Day is a chance to celebrate all that we have and provides us with occasion to learn more about the actions we can take in our daily lives to ensure that we all can enjoy a clean and healthy environment for generations to come. For example, the website http://www.earthday.ca/ provides a top-ten list of actions to reduce your impact on the environment. Mr. Speaker, as Yukoners we have a lot to celebrate in our environment — whether we ski, canoe, skate, hike, camp or merely take pictures, there is a lot for us to be thankful for.

The Government of Yukon and Environment Yukon both provide opportunities for community members to be engaged, such as Raven Recycling’s recycling program and the Yukon Youth Conservation Corps. These programs provide employment and education and not only give our youth and communities tools to keep their environment healthy today, but also for generations to come.

We are pleased to recognize Earth Day. Living in a healthy, beautiful territory is something we are fortunate to enjoy and hope to pass on to future generations by working together and getting involved in projects in our communities. This is something that we can accomplish both on Earth Day and every day.